THE FALLS OF THE GODA.VERY. [To THE EDITOR OF THE'-`SPECTATOR,'"]
SIR,—The somewhat vague picturesqueness of Sir William Hunter's description of the Godavery gorge, quoted in your note to "A Story of Von Moltke," has misled you. There are no " falls " at the place. The following is the description of the gorge by one who knows it well, given in "The Engineer-
ing Works of the Godavari Delta," published by the Madras Government in 1896 :-
"Shortly after receiving the Sabari (or Severi) the Godavari begins to wind amongst the spurs of the Eastern Ghats, which gradually close in on it, till it has to force its way through a gorge which for two miles is so narrow that along the greater part of the distance a stone may be thrown from either bank to the middle of the stream. The hills here rise to a height of between 2,000 ft. and 3,000 ft., with steep, though not precipitous, sides, and are clothed from water's edge to summit with luxuriant tropical vegetation. Through this beautiful gorge the river in its low stages glides with but little disturb- ance, and is easily navigated even by small boats, but during floods it foams past its obstructions with a velocity and turbulence which no craft that ever floated could stem So great is the action of the stream at such times that the rocky bed has been scooped out to depths popularly supposed to be unfathomable, but which, as the writer has himself ascertained, do really vary from 100 ft. to nearly 2 0 ft. High floods rise quite 50 ft. at the place, so that in the defile there is then a torrent from 150 ft. to 250 ft. in depth:"
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